Cameras are commonly used to capture an image of a scene. The color of light reflected from an object will vary according to the color of the light source that is illuminating the scene. As a result thereof, for example, if the color of the light source is yellow, a white object in the scene will not be captured as a white object with a typical film type camera. Recently, some digital cameras have been designed that include a program that adjusts all of the colors in a captured image according to the color of the light source. This commonly referred to as white balance correction. With white balance correction, the digital camera can compensate for variations in the colors of a captured image caused by the light source, and the actual color of the objects in the scene are more accurately represented in an adjusted image.
Additionally, some cameras are waterproof and are used to capture an image of a scene that is underwater. It is well known that water absorbs longer wavelength light more rapidly then shorter wavelength light. As a result thereof, at shallow depths below water, for example, red structures in the scene no longer appear red. Further, some diving equipment is covered with photo-emissive materials which are emissive rather than reflective in nature. The photo-emissive materials absorb light energy and re-emit the light energy at a defined wavelength, e.g. fluorescent material; or the photo-emissive materials can use other sources of energy to emit light, e.g. a light panel, or an LED array for example. This being the case, the photo-emissive materials emit colors of a defined wavelength at a distance from the camera which is typically short, and therefore does not get appreciably attenuated by the water.
Moreover, because of the absorption of light, many underwater scenes require illumination from an underwater light source, such as a flashlight or an illumination system of the camera. As a result thereof, objects closer to the light source will tend to yield more red than object farther from the light source. Thus, the captured image may not accurately reflect the true colors of the scene.
As utilized herein, the terms “true colors” or “actual colors” shall mean the colors that are present with no light attenuation at the scene and the scene is illuminated with an even white light.